Had a junkyard find for a Torino 9in rear end, only $50... even came with a seized axle bearing! Spent $300ish on axle bearings, gaskets and third member rebuild kit.

Got the rear housing mounted on 4-link today and put third member in. Used one of those fancy lubelocker gaskets. I assume some of the brass/copper rings around the third member bolts were crushed washer parts?

Have to wait til tomorrow to get axles in. Need to find someone to press the bearings on.

Wondering tonight what to do with the breather hose. Not sure if I can run a long hose and clip it somewhere or if I need to attach an actual filter/cap/vent.

Had axle bearings pressed today and finally have 4 wheels! Filled rear end with royal purple. Wheels are just spare 14" rims for temp use. Hope to find 16" wheels that are more perm as I need the space to fit calipers.

Working to place radiator to figure how much room I have between radiator and firewall for the 4bt. Being in KC, LMC Truck and Jim Carter are both local so easy to quickly pickup a cheap part (radiator support pad).

Seems like many diagrams show more than just one support pad or shim that mounts the support to the frame plus a rubber piece between nut and frame. JimCarter didn't have anything other than the short pads between support and frame.

Now I'm having a fit issue with the new radiator... seems as if the X bar between the supports are blocking the radiator flange from being flush w the radiator.

Rough measurement of 4bt engine is about 38" needed from front pulley to transmission adapter. Seems like it will fit without any serious wrangling. But who knows until it happens! I'm also switching to an electric fan too which is thinner than what's currently attached to the pulley.

I can't allow myself to think about reusing the "taco truck" (what my neighbors have nicknamed it). But sheesh, could get a super cheap 6bt that would likely fit the original mounts... would only need a transmission adjustment... and some cab that has the length.

Cut out rear crossmember for tire and welded/painted some angle iron to fit fuel tank. Unfortunately depth of 4-link made it a few inches short to fit a replacement tank. Using por15, brush and topcoat black spray can from por.

Test fitting some fuel line plumbing from Speedway. Adding a little fuel breather/vent. 1/2 inch fuel line with aluminum lines and ridiculously expensive AN fittings. 3/8 return line will require drilling a hole in top. Expecting to place the return hole near the sender.

Meanwhile, the 4bt engine is still in process of being pulled out by a local shop. At a bit of a standstill until that happens and then can borrow their hoist to figure out where the engine mounts need to go.

Sheesh fuel tank took all of Sun afternoon. Needed a fuel return line (3/8) that I cut out near the sending unit. Did most of the drilling upside down to keep most of the aluminum out of the tank.

Getting the holes drilled where the tank attached consumed most of the time. As much as I tried to get the holes to line up, sandwiching a band of welded nuts w washer, lock washer, frame, and tank was often off by 1/16 and enough to not tighten.

Brakes! Picked up some rear disc brakes that fit my Ford 9" housing. It even has an integrated parking brake without the crazy drum parking brake. It looks like it will line up well with the old stock emergency brake bar that comes out of the frame.